I’m sure the shoppers who decided to stay away from French wine did so in good faith, and in doing so proved themselves good citizens. But as I’ve said, most people don’t have the time and knowledge to understand complex policy and politics issues; no wonder they rely excessively on guidance from politicians and the media. And, judging by the traffic they generate, the Blogosphere monsters. The most popular bloggers are engaged in irresponsibly mocking and demeaning France, legitimizing their readers’ France-hatred (“If this guy calls them froggie whores, and he gets 100,000 hits a day, why can’t I?”).
What’s amazing is the ignorance most blogging anti-froggies display. Never mind that France only surrendered in WWII because it had no choice (but to be literally razed); never mind that France contributed more than anyone else to the Entente’s victory in WWI; that it relentlessly fought the Algerian war. The Algerian campaign is hardly ever mentioned, which I can only interpret as evidence of the anti-froggies’ veil of ignorance, for a devout Francophobe could extract plenty of incriminating stuff out of it (and a Francophile, some exculpatory evidence, at least as to the French’s toughness).